Congress should hand over consideration of the debt limit issue to an independent commission, former New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson said.

House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-Va.) says the GOP will not grant Democrats’ “request for a debt limit increase” without major spending cuts or budget process reforms. Richardson, a Democrat who represented New Mexico in the House for 14 years before serving in the Clinton administration and being elected governor, said the debt limit has become too politicized for Capitol Hill.

“Since it appears the debt limit issue once again has become increasingly polarized and political, the president and the Congress should consider a bipartisan commission of distinguished economists to take this issue away from the Congress and away from partisan politics,” Richardson said in POLITICO’s Arena.

Two bipartisan groups of lawmakers are already working to reach a budget and debt deal. One, the so-called Gang of Six, includes six senators who have been working for months to reach a deficit reduction deal. The other includes members of Congress invited by President Obama to begin negotiating next month with Vice President Joe Biden on legislation addressing the debt.

House Democrats are pushing for a “clean” vote on a debt limit increase. Rep. Peter Welch (D-Vt.) said in an interview that attaching any other budget measures to the vote was just not practical in a sharply divided Congress.

“We’re in the early stages of a fragile recovery and the Cantor approach is going to cause a mid-air stall,” Welch said in the Arena. “And he pursues a political leverage game at the peril of the American economy.”

But fiscal conservatives contend Hill Republicans now have the leverage to extract further spending cuts and other budget changes.

“This is a perfect opportunity for Republicans to shine, but only if they exhibit the courage to fight for limited government and stay true to those principles when the debate heats up,” the Club For Growth’s Andy Roth said in Arena.

But NDN president and founder Simon Rosenberg said it would be “irresponsible” to withhold a straight up-or-down vote on further borrowing room. Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner has warned that failure to raise the limit by the May 16 deadline could have disastrous economic consequences.

“There is nothing courageous or virtuous about threatening to harm the United States and its people. This new GOP tactic is extreme, reckless, dangerous, and needs to be taken off the table immediately,” Rosenberg said.

Richardson, a 2008 Democratic presidential contender, likened the debt limit back-and-forth to 1980s era debates about closing military bases toward the end of the Cold War.

“When I was in Congress, neither party was willing to vote to shut down military bases. So we formed a military base commission to make the tough decisions. We should do the same with the debt limit,” Richardson said.